§ Mr. Iremongerasked the Minister of Health if he is aware of the anxiety of the officers and members of the Essex Society for Mentally Handicapped Children about the shortage of hospital accommodation for mentally handicapped children in Essex; at what rate the waiting list and the intake, respectively, are growing; and how many extra beds are expected to be ready for occupation by the end of this year.
§ Mr. Walker-SmithYes, I am fully aware of the Society's concern. The numbers of mentally handicapped children on the Essex waiting lists were 170, 157, 170 and 131 at the end of 1955, 1956, 1957 and 1958, and 163 at the end of September this year. The annual admissions from Essex for the years 1955 to 1958 were 38, 64, 56, and 37.
Two hundred and twenty additional beds for mentally handicapped children have been provided by the North East Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board since 1948, and the majority of these are occupied by children from Essex. Forty more beds will be provided in the region by the end of 1959 and a further 40 by March, 1960.